Monolith pin out: Difference between revisions

From datarecoverywiki.com
Jump to navigation Jump to search
← Older editNewer edit →
No edit summary
No edit summary
Line 152: Line 152:
</br>
</br>
1. Visual analysis of the Mirco SD card </br>
1. Visual analysis of the Mirco SD card </br>
Is there any visable damage?, Is there any physical cracks?</br>
2. Removal of material to expose pins</br>
2. Removal of material to expose pins</br>
Unless there is serious damage to the card and the PCB is exposed,</br>
then material must be removed in order to access the PCB,</br>
This can be done in a few major ways such as,</br>
ACID -
</br>
Laser -
</br>
CNC -
</br>
Sanding - the use of absative pads such as carbon fibre abssive pens to remove material</br>
While standard low grid pieces of sandpaper can be used it is not recomended as it lacks precisison</br>
and makes it more likely to sand through the PCB.
</br>
The easiest and cost effective method is Sanding.
3. Identification of each required Pin</br>
3. Identification of each required Pin</br>
The best way to idenify a cards a pinout is to check databases of prexisting pinouts if they include the device your looking for</br>
such as </br>
Rusolut NAND monlith database(requies expensive subcription)</br>
Flash extractor fourm(open but requires login)</br>
Ace lab database(requies expensive subcription)</br>
HDD guru fourm(free and open)</br>
Badcaps fourm(free but requires a account to download schmatic files)</br>
Aliexpress(pinouts can be purchased, often expensive espically if only going to be used once)</br>
Search the internet for the model number and the term pinout(using the "" with make most search certains search for that exact term)</br>
If you are unable to access or find the pinout then, you might have to locate the pins yourself through the following techquies</br>
These can be done with basic but often expensive tools such as a multimeter with counuinity and voltage dection modes, osclioscope and logic analysers</br>
<ul>
<li>Ground(GND)- Using the multimeter couninity mode placing one probe on the casing(this is typically grounded), then touch enough pad untill there is a beep</br>
this indcates there is counonity(the two points are connected) you have now found ground</li>
<li>VCC(power) - Typically VCC traces are thicker than others and often on the edge of the PCB</br>
Power up the card(if possible) then using the multimeters voltage mode(typically the 2V setting) then place the black probe on the GND pad you found previously</br>
and touch the red pin to each pad untill the multi meter reads around either 3.3v or 1.8v (due to resistence and the quality of the multimeter it it unlikely to be exect but with 0.1-0.2v is acceptable)</br>
this is likely the VCC pin</br>
If the card will not power up then set the multimeter to reistence mode(Ω)(20k mode)</br>
place the black probe on your GND pin, then using the red probe look for the pin with the lowest resistance (likely within 100Ω-10000Ω)
the pin with the lowest resistence is likely VCC.</li>
4. Wiring of pins to device</br>
4. Wiring of pins to device</br>
5. Data extraction</br>
5. Data extraction</br>

Revision as of 14:23, 28 February 2025

Data Recovery Resources

Background information

This page will cover Monolith pin out, how it functions, how to communicate with a device over it, and where to find the pads.
Monolith storage refers to any storage that is completely built into a singular PCB often inencased in plastic, for example a SD card,
The only way to reasonably access the data on these devices is to solder directly to the pin on the back of the PCB by removing the plastic
and locating the correct pins to access the storage within the device,, while databases of these pinouts exist they typically
require subscriptions to services provided by ACElab or RUsolut, otherwise singular pinouts can be bought from 3rd party vendors or AliExpress

typical Pin out

All NAND devices should follow the ONFI standardand use the same pins, just in different locations on each device.
1. Vcc,
2. GND,
3. CLE,
4. RE,
5. CE,
6. ALE,
7. WP,
8. WE,
9. RB,
10. D0-D7

Steps

In this example, we will be working with a Mirco Secure Digital card(SD)
1. Visual analysis of the Mirco SD card
Is there any visable damage?, Is there any physical cracks?
2. Removal of material to expose pins
Unless there is serious damage to the card and the PCB is exposed,
then material must be removed in order to access the PCB,
This can be done in a few major ways such as,
ACID -
Laser -
CNC -
Sanding - the use of absative pads such as carbon fibre abssive pens to remove material
While standard low grid pieces of sandpaper can be used it is not recomended as it lacks precisison
and makes it more likely to sand through the PCB.
The easiest and cost effective method is Sanding. 3. Identification of each required Pin
The best way to idenify a cards a pinout is to check databases of prexisting pinouts if they include the device your looking for
such as
Rusolut NAND monlith database(requies expensive subcription)
Flash extractor fourm(open but requires login)
Ace lab database(requies expensive subcription)
HDD guru fourm(free and open)
Badcaps fourm(free but requires a account to download schmatic files)
Aliexpress(pinouts can be purchased, often expensive espically if only going to be used once)
Search the internet for the model number and the term pinout(using the "" with make most search certains search for that exact term)
If you are unable to access or find the pinout then, you might have to locate the pins yourself through the following techquies
These can be done with basic but often expensive tools such as a multimeter with counuinity and voltage dection modes, osclioscope and logic analysers

  • Ground(GND)- Using the multimeter couninity mode placing one probe on the casing(this is typically grounded), then touch enough pad untill there is a beep
    this indcates there is counonity(the two points are connected) you have now found ground
  • VCC(power) - Typically VCC traces are thicker than others and often on the edge of the PCB
    Power up the card(if possible) then using the multimeters voltage mode(typically the 2V setting) then place the black probe on the GND pad you found previously
    and touch the red pin to each pad untill the multi meter reads around either 3.3v or 1.8v (due to resistence and the quality of the multimeter it it unlikely to be exect but with 0.1-0.2v is acceptable)
    this is likely the VCC pin
    If the card will not power up then set the multimeter to reistence mode(Ω)(20k mode)
    place the black probe on your GND pin, then using the red probe look for the pin with the lowest resistance (likely within 100Ω-10000Ω) the pin with the lowest resistence is likely VCC.
    • 4. Wiring of pins to device
    5. Data extraction

    What tools you will need

    Items are not listed in any particular order

    Required

    • Test

    Optional but useful

    • Test

    Uses of this skill

Retrieved from "https://datarecoverywiki.com/index.php?title=Monolith_pin_out&oldid=888"